Xtreme Simulation Weekend Australia CANCELLED

[mutley 4,487]

A shame our Australasian cousins will miss out, however I can understand Ross's frustration on lack of support.

Read the rather lengthy somewhat bitter announcement. (Click on image to go to announcement)

[needles 1,010]

What an absolute shame for Ross. To have to cancel is not a nice thing to have to do and I feel for him and his team for having to do it. Shame on the big companies for not showing more (if any) interest in the event.

What is the answer?

Best wishes to Ross for his next venture and hope that comes to fruition.

[ddavid 149]

I guess that's the sim show planned for October in Sydney? Pity for our OZ mates... :001_th_smiles48:

Still, there's always this:

That's the (e)Xtreme Simulation Weekend at RAF Museum Cosford on October 22nd and 23rd 2011. More info here. I'll be wearing my Mutley Crew sweat-shirt.

Cheers - Dai.

[mutley 4,487]

Without prejustice!

I'm still undecided about this one Dai, more on principle than availability, we are not officially supporting this show unlike Lelystad, Flight1 show at Shoreham and FSC Weston next year which appear to be more community driven.

It's a profit driven show with a limited liability company set up to bank the revenue and if they don't get enough pre-bookings then they will pull it double-quick like they did last(?) year, I suspect that's the route cause of the Oz Sim event failure too.

[allardjd 1,853]

I can understand the dissappointment of the organizer, particularly since he put front money up and probably lost his shirt. Nonetheless, whining about vendors not wanting to participate seems to be placing the blame where it isn't.

Companies, large and small, have their own bottom lines to look after; that's their first priority and primary responsibility. Attending a show as a vendor can't be a cheap thing with paying staff, travel expenses, probably paying for the display space, shipping, renting or buying the requisite hardware (shelves, tables, dessks, chairs, PCs, large displays, signage, lighting), merchandise, demo items, promotional handouts and other giveaways, insurance, lodging, rental cars (or trucks), etc, etc, etc. It's just got to be an expensive thing to do.

If those in charge of marketing for the vendor don't feel that what they will get from it in terms of publicity, sales, etc, is worth the effort and the outlay, then they aren't going to do it as a charity or a service to the community or as a kindness to the organizer. Companies have to service their bottom line and have no obligation to the show organizer unless there was a prior contract.

I symmpathize with the organizer and certainly with the local FS community who now will not have a FS show in their city, but I certainly don't blame the vendors. The organizer's mistaken optimism that they would beat a path to his door despite the worst business climate in living memory is the primary reason for all this and his message reeks of sour grapes.

Maybe this should go in "Have Your Say".

John

[mutley 4,487]

Hmmmm Mark Silcock and IFC comes to mind.

Nuff said

[mutley 4,487]

Further to my remark in the above post I apologise to Ross for such a harsh comment.

Ross has taken the time out to write to me baring the truth behind the failure of this event and said I could post his email here.

G’day Joe,

I would like to thank you for posting the announcement regarding the cancellation of the Xtreme Simulation Weekend. This email is rather long, so take the time now to grab a cup of coffee, or something with alcohol, because

it’s a long one! I make no apologies for this.

I would like to address and respond to some comments that were made in your forum thread, just for the record...... first of all this one....”Hmmmm Mark Silcock and IFC comes to mind. Nuff said “

In response to that post, here is some background for you...I severed all ties to Mark Silcock and the IFC brand, after his very public rant regarding support from Microsoft for the 2007 IFC events in the USA and Australia. I had paid a considerable amount of money to Mark for use of the IFC branding for the Australian event (I still have the original IFC Australian website template). When I went live with IFC Australia in early 2007, numerous exhibitors and participants threatened to walk out, should I continue with the IFC branding. I then formed my own brand, and with thanks to Garry J Smith for the logo, the “Oz Flight Sim Expo” was born. I executed two events under this brand.

In October 2010, a few contacts in the flight simulation industry persuaded me to run the event again, despite my financial loss from the 2009 event. It took some convincing, however I finally gave in, and decided to give it another go. When I decided to commit to an event in 2011, I began the exhaustive process of selecting a suitable venue. I flew down to Sydney to inspect the “Big Top” at Luna Park. Satisfied that it met all the requirements, I chose that venue as the location for the 2011 Expo, and set the dates, October 22nd and 23rd. The venue hire is expensive, $25,000 in fact. The venue contract requires that the deposit and payment installments occur at regular intervals prior to the event dates. I should mention that at that time I went to contract, I was confident that I was able to have quite a few commercial exhibitors booked in. I worked out that if 25-30 paying exhibitors turned up, the stand fee would be between $1700 and $3500 (full boothing). These prices also included different levels of sponsorship criteria. By comparison to other electronic/gaming type expositions, these rates are quite affordable and reasonable, and could easily be recouped by sales. Heck, the Flightsim Store sold $18,000 in just two days at the 2009 event. After venue contract was confirmed, I then started sending out expressions of interest by contacting potential vendors and developers here in Australia, Europe and the USA.

In December 2010, John Marshall approached me and discussed the possibility of running my Australian event under Astrasim Expo, since his event was going to be on the same weekend. I agreed, went into a formal contractual agreement with John, and the “Xtreme Simulation Weekend” came into existence. I then adopted the AE brand into the Australian event. Profits from both events were going to be pooled to expand the AE brand into the USA. I worked very hard, unpaid, in my own time, in order to attract commercial exhibitors and other display participants. John and I have both been stung by IFC and Mark Silcock, so if you think AE is reminiscent of IFC, that was certainly not the intention of the event. John and I have both planned and executed events, and that our goal was to work on future events together,and to make it a successful business venture. We are both passionate about the industry, and the hobby, and feel that this was our contribution to it.

I had to contribute a significant amount of my own money ($8000 actually) to pay the first venue installment in March, since I only had one commercial exhibitor signed and paid up. I had sent out dozens of emails, and left heaps of phone messages to call me, only to have very little response. The bitterness that you, and others had picked up in my announcement, is a result of a lack of common courtesy in business communications. Out of the 40 or so contacts listed in my database, only 5% responded with “possible” and “yes, I’m interested”. Later down the track, the couple of exhibitors turned around and told me that they wouldn’t be able to commit. It would have been great if the other 95% had actually responded with “no, not interested”. At least I would know then where I stand, and then I can make changes in plans accordingly. I have modified my initial press release on the website. The global economy is making life tough on everyone, I acknowledge that, however I have noticed that a few developers that I contacted, seemed to have no problem with participating in the E3 Expo in the USA. The display fees there would be alot more than what I would charge for a booth. Why not make the effort for an Australian event, and address the Pacific region in it’s marketing and advertising of current and future products? Another gentleman from another forum seems to have blamed Piracy for a reason why commercial exhibitors chose not to participate. I don’t think that’s a good enough excuse really. I know of a few companies that sell flight sim products that have excellent anti-piracy strategies, and they are very effective. I would like to hear it straight from the vendors and developers directly as to why they can’t be involved, not from forum administrators or customers.

I will admit my mistake for selecting such an expensive venue. I was hoping that the community would get behind me and support the event. I wanted to do it properly, and I don’t think people would have taken it seriously if it was

held in a hangar or community hall. I don’t run this event for me, I do it for the benefit of a community that I have belonged to for the last 10 years, and one that I am passionate about. A few months after the Expo was announced, an online interest group (I will not name them) decided to hold their own event, in which it included topics that I would have liked to have at the Xtreme Simulation Weekend. I told the organiser back in early March that I was willing to donate a free stand to advertise and showcase a very successful charity event that they do every year. I asked them if they could confirm their participation by the end of the month. I didn’t hear back from them at all.

Can you really blame me for being bitter?

You can post this in your forum if you like. I have signed up for your forums so that I can respond to posts if necessary. Phew! Now I need an alcoholic beverage after all that!

Cheers!

Ross Farquharson

So there we have it from the horses mouth, thanks Ross for being so candid, I can see what a battle you've had and I send you my best wishes.

Joe

[needles 1,010]

An excellent response from Ross there Joe. I do feel for Ross losing so much of his own money and I think the venue would have been the right way to go anyway. As he states, holding an event in a local community centre hardly packs a punch with the big guys out there. It is a shame that Ross has had to pull the plug on his event, even though it would have been too far for me personally to travel to, I'm sure the big exhibitors would have made their money back more than ten fold.

Good luck in the future Ross.

Regards

Brian